China, U.S. Agree to Take Baby Steps on Climate Change

The Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Choking air pollution in China over the last two years has ensured environmental issues are taken seriously.

Zuma Press

The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases agreed on Wednesday to do more to fight climate change, but the specific steps they settled on were far from ambitious.

Chinese and U.S. officials, including heavy hitters such as Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, are meeting in Beijing for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, an annual two-day talkfest at which senior figures have a chance to share their concerns and look for common ground.

In principle, at a time when the two countries’ relationship is under strain from rock-hard security issues like cyber-spying and spats between China and its neighbors in the surrounding seas, environmental questions could provide one arena where both sides are able to find some welcome agreement.

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As luck would have it, the sun shone on the summit, but repeated bouts of choking air pollution over the last two years have ensured that environmental issues are now taken seriously in Beijing.

China and the U.S. agreed on Wednesday to adopt tougher fuel efficiency standards, look at ways to make industrial boilers more efficient, and conduct demonstration projects on carbon capture and smart electricity grids.

The issue of climate change came up, at least briefly, at each of the three meetings between Presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama last year. In fact, an agreement to reduce the production and consumption of pollutants called hydrofluorocarbons–or HFCs–was one of the few substantive achievements from the much-hyped Sunnylands summit in California last year.

HFCs are highly potent greenhouse gases, and phasing them out could avoid half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century, according to Melanie Hart of the Center for American Progress, a left-of-center think tank.

Last year’s agreement was hailed by environmental groups as a breakthrough, though details have yet to be worked out. But so far, this summit hasn’t provided anything comparable.

China declined to make any new commitments on emissions reduction, besides the longstanding goal of cutting “emissions intensity” by 40% to 45% between 2005 and 2020. China is making progress by that measure–emissions per unit of economic output–even as its total emissions continue to rise.

“The Chinese leaders are being very cautious about pushing beyond their comfort zone in climate talks with the U.S. and other nations,” said Ms. Hart.

That said, some of the smaller measures agreed at the current summit are meaningful, she said, especially the decision to push for greater fuel efficiency–an area where China hasn’t excelled in the past.

Progress there could help clear Beijing’s murky skies, as well as slowing the rise of the oceans.

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